Printing system and nontransitory storage medium storing program readable by mobile terminal

ABSTRACT

A printing system includes an information processing apparatus, a mobile terminal, and a printer. The information processing apparatus is configured to transmit job identification information and address information to the mobile terminal, and transmit a printing job to the printer when receiving a transmission request for the printing job identified by the job identification information from the printer. The mobile terminal is configured to transmit the job identification information and the address information to a selected execution printer. The printer is configured to transmit a transmission request for transmitting the printing job to the information processing apparatus specified by the received address information when receiving the job identification information and the address information from the mobile terminal, and execute printing processing in response to receiving the transmission request.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. 2020-012621, which was filed on Jan. 29, 2020, the disclosure ofwhich is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The following disclosure relates to a technique of allowing a printer toprint a printing job stored in an information processing apparatus.

There have been known a printing system in which a printing job storedin an information processing apparatus is transmitted to a printer inaccordance with an operation on a printer side by a user, and thetransmitted printing job is printed by the printer. Specifically, theprinting job is transmitted from the information processing apparatus tothe printer by the user operation of a user interface of the printer.The printer executes printing processing by using the received printingjob.

SUMMARY

In such the printing system, an operation burden of the user may be highin user operation which is operated until the printing job stored in theinformation processing apparatus is transmitted to the printer.

Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure relates to a printing systemthat reduces the operation burden of the user, and a non-transitorystorage medium storing a program readable by a mobile terminal.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a printing system includes aninformation processing apparatus, a mobile terminal, and a printer. Theinformation processing apparatus is configured to store a printing joband job identification information identifying the printing job so as tobe associated with each other, transmit the job identificationinformation and address information indicating an address of theinformation processing apparatus to the mobile terminal, and transmitthe printing job to the printer when receiving a transmission requestfor the printing job identified by the job identification informationfrom the printer. The mobile terminal is configured to receive the jobidentification information and the address information transmitted fromthe information processing apparatus receive a selection operation of anexecution printer allowed to execute printing processing of the printingjob, and transmit the job identification information and the addressinformation to the selected execution printer. The printer is configuredto transmit a transmission request for transmitting the printing jobidentified by the job identification information to the informationprocessing apparatus specified by the received address information whenreceiving the job identification information and the address informationfrom the mobile terminal, and execute the printing processing based onthe printing job received from the information processing apparatus inresponse to receiving the transmission request.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitory storage mediumstores a program readable by a computer of a mobile terminal capable ofcommunicating with an information processing apparatus and a printerthrough a network. When the program is executed by the computer, theprogram allows the mobile terminal to receive job identificationinformation identifying a printing job stored in the informationprocessing apparatus and address information indicating an address ofthe information processing apparatus from the information processingapparatus, and receive a selection operation of an execution printerallowed to execute printing processing of the printing job, and transmitthe job identification information and the address information to theselected execution printer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features, advantages, and technical and industrialsignificance of the present disclosure will be better understood byreading the following detailed description of the embodiments, whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printing system;

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a printer;

FIG. 3 is a timing chart for explaining processing executed between a PCand a mobile terminal;

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a function selection screen;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining processing executed at Step S23 ofFIG. 3:

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a list screen;

FIG. 7 is a view for explaining a printing instruction receiving screen;

FIG. 8 is a timing chart for explaining processing executed between themobile terminal and the printer;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining processing executed at Step S43 ofFIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a timing chart for explaining processing executed between theprinter and the PC;

FIG. 11 is a view for explaining a list screen according to amodification example of a first embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a view for explaining a list screen according to a secondembodiment.

EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment

A printing system according to an embodiment will be explained withreference to the drawings. It is to be understood that the followingembodiment is described only by way of example, and the disclosure maybe otherwise embodied with various modifications without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the disclosure.

A printing system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a mobile terminal10, printers 30 a, 30 b, and a PC (Personal Computer) 40. The mobileterminal 10, the printers 30 a, 30 b, and the PC 40 are connected to anetwork 200. The network 200 may be Internet, a local area network(LAN), or a combination of the LAN and Internet. The network 200 may beconfigured by a wired or wireless connection, or a combination of wiredand wireless connections. Specifically, the PC 40 and the printers 30 a,30 b are connected by wireless through a not-illustrated routerconfiguring a part of the network. In the embodiment, the PC 40 is anexample of an information processing apparatus.

The mobile terminal 10 is a smartphone or a tablet computer. The mobileterminal 10 includes a bus 11, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 12, adisplay 13, a touch panel 14, a network IF 15, a memory 16, and a firstNFC (Near Field Communication) IF 17. These components are configured tocommunicate with one another through the bus 11.

The display 13 has a display surface on which a screen is displayed. Thetouch panel 14 includes touch sensors and is disposed so as to cover thedisplay surface of the display 13. The touch panel 14 functions as anoperation unit, which detects approach/contact of a finger of a user ora touch pen to the touch panel 14 and outputs an electric signal inaccordance with the detection. In the embodiment, the display 13 is anexample of a display. The mobile terminal 10 may have operation keyswhich are physically provided as the operation unit.

The network IF 15 is capable of executing wireless communication, forexample, in Wi-Fi (registered trademark) system based on a standard ofIEEE 802.11 and standards corresponding to that. The network IF 15 mayexecute near-field wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registeredtrademark) with respect to the printers 30 a, 30 b.

The first NFC IF 17 is capable of executing wireless communicationconforming to a standard of NFC with respect to a second NFC IF(described later) of the printers 30 a, 30 b. The first NFC IF 17includes a not-illustrated antenna unit capable oftransmitting/receiving a transmission wave. The first NFC IF 17transmits data by being superimposed on a carrier wave from the antennaunit when transmitting data.

The memory 16 is configured by combining, for example, a RAM (RandomAccess Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a flash memory. The memory16 may also be a storage medium readable by a computer. The storagemedium readable by the computer includes recording media such as aCD-ROM and a DVD-ROM.

The memory 16 stores a control application (hereinafter called a controlAP) in addition to a not-illustrated client-side OS (Operation System).A control AP 20 is a program provided by a vendor of the printers 30 a,30 b, which can be downloaded from, for example a not-illustrated serveron the network. The CPU 12 can execute the control AP 20 under executionof the client-side OS, thereby executing processing relating to pullprint between the printers 30 a, 30 b and the PC 40. The pull print willbe described later. Various data referred to by the CPU 12 at the timeof executing the control AP 20 is stored in a data storage area of thememory 16. The control AP 20 is an example of a program in theembodiment. There may be a case where the CPU 12 executing the controlAP 20 is merely written in the program name. For example, there may be acase where a description “the control AP 20” indicates “the CPU 12executing the control AP 20”.

In the embodiment, processing of the CPU 12 executed in accordance withcommands written in the program is mainly described. That is, processingsuch as “determination”, “extraction”, “selection”, “calculation”,“decision”, “identification”, “obtainment (acquisition)”, “reception” or“control” in the following description represents processing of the CPU12. The processing by the CPU 12 also includes hardware control throughthe client-side OS. The “obtainment(acquisition)” is used as a conceptin which request is not essential. That is, processing of receiving datawithout being requested by the CPU 12 is included in a concept that “theCPU 12 obtains data”. Moreover, “data” in the specification isrepresented by a bit string readable by the computer. Then, data havingsubstantially the same contents with a different format will be dealtwith as the same data. The same applies to “information” in thespecification.

The printers 30 a, 30 b are multifunction machines capable of executingprinting processing and scanning processing. FIG. 2 is a configurationdiagram of the printer 30 a. As a configuration of the printer 30 b isthe same as that of the printer 30 a, explanation thereof is omitted.

The printer 30 a includes a network IF 32, a controller 33, a display34, a second NFC IF 35, a memory 36, a printing unit 37, and a scannerunit 38. Respective components having reference number from 32 to 38 areconnected through a bus 31.

The second NFC IF 35 is capable of executing wireless communicationconforming the standard of NFC with respect to the first NFC IF 17 ofthe mobile terminal 10. The second NFC IF 35 has a not-illustratedantenna unit capable of transmitting/receiving a carrier wave. Thesecond NFC IF 35 outputs data by extracting the data from the receivedcarrier wave through the antenna unit when receiving data.

The printing unit 37 has a conveying mechanism configured to convey thepaper, a printing head configured to discharge ink to the paper, and acarriage allowing the printing head to relatively reciprocate withrespect to the paper. In the printing processing of the printer 30 a,the ink is discharged while allowing the printing head to reciprocatewith respect to the paper by the carriage, thereby printing an image.The scanning unit 38 is a mechanism of reading an original set on anot-illustrated platen or a feeder as digital data.

The controller 33 controls driving of the printing unit 37 in accordancewith a printing job PD by executing the program stored in the memory 36to thereby form a printing image on the paper. The controller 33 alsoexecutes the program stored in the memory 36 to thereby executeprocessing relating to the pull print described later.

A printer name of the printer 30 a is called a “printer A” and a printername of the printer 30 b is called a “printer B” in the followingdescription.

The PC 40 can communicate various data with the mobile terminal 10 andthe printers 30 a, 30 b through the network 200. The PC 40 includes abus 41, a network IF 42, a CPU 43, a display 44, a user IF 45, and amemory 46.

The memory 46 stores a control program 48 in addition to anot-illustrated server-side OS. The CPU 43 executes the control program48 to thereby create the printing job PD from data created by anot-illustrated application or the like. The CPU 43 can further executethe processing relating to the pull print by executing the controlprogram 48. The control program 48 is provided by the vendor of theprinters 30 a, 30 b, for example, as an application, a printer driver, asoftware development kit and so on, which can be, for example,downloaded from a not-illustrated server on the network.

The printing job PD includes image information D1, print settinginformation D2, time information D3, and a thumbnail D4. The imageinformation D1 is information illustrating an image to be printed by theprinting job PD. The image information D1 is, for example, a bitmapimage. The print setting information D2 is information indicating printsetting (a paper size, color, the number of copies, yes/no of duplexprinting and so on) at the time of executing printing processing of theprinting job PD. The time information D3 is information indicating timewhen the printing job PD is created by the PC 40. The thumbnail D4 is animage obtained by reducing the size of the image to be printed by theprinting job PD.

The printing job PD further includes a job identification information IDand a designated printer identification information ID2. The jobidentification information ID1 is information for uniquely identifyingthe printing job PD. The designated printer identification informationID2 is information identifying a designated printer as a printer wherebyprinting processing of the printing job PD is executed. In theembodiment, the designated printer identification information ID2indicates a printer name. The memory 46 stores an association table T inwhich the job identification information ID1 is associated with anaddress of the memory 46 storing the printing job PD.

<Pull Print>

Next, the pull print which can be executed by the printing system 100will be explained.

In the pull print, the user brings the first NFC IF 17 of the mobileterminal 10 in close to the second NFC IF 35 of any one of the printers30 a, 30 b, thereby allowing the printer to which the mobile terminal 10is brought in close to print the printing job PD created by the PC 40.The printer to which the mobile terminal 10 is brought in close is alsocalled an “execution printer” in the following description.Specifically, a situation in which the printing job PD is stored in thememory 46 of the PC 40 is kept until the first NFC IF 17 of the mobileterminal 10 is brought in close to the second NFC IF 35 of any one ofthe printers 30 a, 30 b in the pull print. Then, when the first NFC IF17 of the mobile terminal 10 is brought in close to the second NFC IF 35of any one of the printers 30 a, 30 b, the printing job PD istransmitted from the PC 40 to the execution printer.

First, processing of pull print executed between the PC 40 and themobile terminal 10 will be explained with reference to FIG. 3. In theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, connection of wireless communicationis not established between the PC 40 and the mobile terminal 10.

At Step S10, pairing processing is executed between the PC 40 and themobile terminal 10 for establishing connection of near-field wirelesscommunication by Bluetooth. At Step S11, the PC 40 registers a portnumber in which the data transmitted from the mobile terminal 10 isreceived.

When the PC 40 receives an operation for instructing start of thecontrol program from the user, the PC 40 starts the control program 48at Step S12.

When the PC 40 receives, from the user, an operation of selecting thedesignated printer, an operation of selecting an image to be printed, anoperation of designating print setting, and an instruction of executingthe pull print, the PC 40 creates, based on the function of the controlprogram 48, the printing job PD, the job identification information ID1,and the designated printer identification information ID2 at Step S13.The control program 48 creates the image information D1, the printsetting information D2, the time information D3, the thumbnail D4, thejob identification information ID1 and the designated printeridentification information ID2 as the printing job PD. At Step S14, thePC 40 stores the printing job PD created at Step S13 into the memory 46.The control program 48 stores an address of the printing job PD in theassociation table T by associating the address with the jobidentification information ID1.

At Step S15, the control program 48 obtains an IP address Add on the PC40 as an own machine. The IP address Add is information indicating alocation of the PC 40 on the network 200.

On the other hand, when the CPU 12 of the mobile terminal 10 receivesthe operation of instructing the start of the control AP 20 from theuser, the CPU 12 starts the control AP 20 at Step S20. The CPU 12displays a function selection screen based on the function of thecontrol AP 20 at Step S21. As illustrated in FIG. 4, a functionselection screen 50 is a screen for allowing the user to select thefunction of the control AP 20, and the function selection screen 50includes a selection icon display area 51 and a printer display area 52.In the printer display area 52, an icon 64 of the printer and a text 65indicating the printer name are disposed. The printer name indicated bythe text 65 is a printer name presently selected as the printer forexecuting printing processing on the mobile terminal 10. The text 65indicates the “printer A” in FIG. 4. The printer name in the text 65 maybe changed by a not-illustrated print setting screen.

In the selection icon display area 51, a print processing icon 60, ascan processing icon 61, and a pull print icon 62 are disposed. Theprint processing icon 60 is an icon configured to receive a selectionoperation by the user when allowing the printer 30 a to execute printingprocessing. The scan processing icon 61 is an icon configured to receivea selection operation by the user when allowing the printer 30 a toexecute scanning processing. The pull print icon 62 is an iconconfigured to receive a selection operation by the user when allowingthe printer to execute pull print. Note that the printer indicated inthe text 65 is not always allowed to execute pull print in theembodiment. As described later, the pull print is executed by theprinter corresponding to the designated printer identificationinformation ID2 contained in the printing job PD.

A batch image 63 is disposed near the pull print icon 62 in theselection icon display area 51. The batch image 63 is an icon indicatingthe number of printing jobs PD which has not been printed by the printerat present. The number in the batch image 63 is set in accordance withthe number of printing jobs PD already obtained from the PC 40 by thecontrol AP 20 according to processing executed last time (processing ofStep S16 in FIG. 3 described later) by the control AP 20.

When the user executes the selection operation of the pull print icon 62on the function selection screen 50, the control AP 20 transmits atransmission request for the IP address Add, the job identificationinformation ID1, and the designated printer identification informationID2 to the PC 40 (Step S22 in FIG. 3).

When the PC 40 receives the transmission request for respectiveinformation from the mobile terminal 10 based on the function of thecontrol program 48, the PC 40 transmits the IP address Add, the jobidentification information ID1, and the designated printeridentification information ID2 at Step S16. In the embodiment, thecontrol program 48 transmits the time information D3 and the thumbnailD4 included in the printing job PD to the mobile terminal 10 at StepS16. In accordance with the processing at Step S16, when the functionselection screen 50 is displayed next time, the control AP 20 changesthe number indicated by the batch image 63 so as to correspond to thejob identification information ID1 newly received from the PC 40.

The control AP 20 executes selection operation receiving processing ofreceiving the selection operation of the printing job PD by the user atStep S23.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a procedure of the selectionoperation receiving processing executed at Step S23 of FIG. 3. As asubject of respective processing illustrated in FIG. 5 is the control AP20 (CPU 12), description of the subject is omitted.

At Step S31, a list screen is displayed on the display 13. A list screen70 illustrated in FIG. 6 is a screen on which printing jobs PD stored inthe PC 40 are displayed in a list. The list screen 70 is configured sothat a plurality of job display areas 71 each in which informationrelating to a corresponding one of the printing jobs PD (D3, D4) isdisplayed are arranged in a vertical direction in the embodiment. Whendistinguishing from each other among the job display areas 71 anddistinguishing from each other among information displayed in the jobdisplay areas 71, alphabets (a, b, c) are added to ends of numerals. Inthe printing jobs PD displayed in the job display areas 71, a printingjob PD with respect to a printer other than the printer indicated in thetext 65 of FIG. 4 (for example, the printer B) may be displayed.

Each of the job display areas 71 (71 a, 71 b, 71 c) included in the listscreen 70 contains the time information D3 (D3 a, D3 b, D3 c), thethumbnail D4 (D4 a, D4 b, D4 c), and a delete button 74 (74 a, 74 b, 74c). Specifically, time information D3 a, a thumbnail D4 a and a deletebutton 74 a are displayed in a job display area 71 a. Time informationD3 b, a thumbnail D4 b and a delete button 74 b are displayed in a jobdisplay area 71 b. Time information D3 c, a thumbnail D4 c and a deletebutton 74 c are displayed in a job display area 71 c. Note that, theprinting job PD displayed in the job display area 71 a is an example ofa first printing job, and the printing job PD displayed in the jobdisplay area 71 b is an example of a second printing job. The timeinformation D3 and the thumbnail D4 are information transmitted from thePC 40 (Step S16 of FIG. 3). The delete button 74 is an icon configuredto receive a selection operation by the user when the user deletes theprinting job PD from a target of the pull print. When the selectionoperation of the delete button 74 is received, the job display area 71containing the delete button 74 by which the selection operation isreceived is deleted from the list screen 70.

Returning to FIG. 5, it is determined whether the selection operation ofthe delete button 74 has been executed or not at Step S32. When it isdetermined that the selection operation of the delete button 74 has beenreceived, the process proceeds to Step S33, at which a deletion requestfor the printing job PD receiving the deletion operation is transmittedto the PC 40. In the embodiment, the job identification information ID1of the printing job PD to be a target of deletion is transmitted to thePC 40 with the deletion request. The PC 40 deletes the printing job PDcorresponding to the job identification information ID1 from the memory46 when receiving the deletion request from the mobile terminal 10.

When the processing at Step S33 is completed, the process returns toStep S31. In this case, the job display area 71 containing the printingjob PD as the target of deletion is not displayed on the list screen 70.The control AP 20 may delete the job display area 71 containing theprinting job PD as the target of deletion from the list screen 70without transmitting the deletion request to the PC 40 at Step S33. Inthis case, the job display area 71 containing the printing job PD as thetarget area 71 is not displayed on the list screen 70 in the mobileterminal 10 operated by the user; therefore, the printing job PD as thetarget of deletion is excluded from the target of the pull print.

When it is determined that the selection operation of the deletionbutton 74 is not received at Step S32, the process proceeds to Step S34.At Step S34, it is determined whether the printing job PD to be thetarget of the pull print has been selected by the user or not.Specifically, when the selection operation of any of the job displayareas 71 is executed on the list screen 70, the printing job PDcorresponding to the job display area 71 in which the selectionoperation has been executed is selected as the target of the pull print.

In the case where the printing job PD to be the target of the pull printis not selected by the user, the process returns to Step S31. On theother hand, when the printing job PD to be the target of the pull printis selected by the user at Step S34, the process proceeds to Step S35,at which a printing instruction receiving screen is displayed on thedisplay 13.

A printing instruction receiving screen 80 illustrated in FIG. 7 is ascreen for receiving an execution instruction of printing processing bythe user. Specifically, FIG. 7 illustrates the screen displayed on thedisplay 13 when a job display area 71 a is selected on the list screen70 of FIG. 6. The printing instruction receiving screen 80 includes apreview area 81 and an operation method display area 82.

In the preview area 81, the time information D3 a, the thumbnail D4 a,and the designated printer identification information ID2 are disposed.In the embodiment, the “printer A” is illustrated as the designatedprinter identification information ID2. The user can recognize thedesignated printer allowed to execute printing processing of theprinting job PD by checking the preview area 81.

In the operation method display area 82, text for instructing anoperation method of the mobile terminal 10 to the user is displayed. Inthe embodiment, text saying “please touch in NFC” is displayed in theoperation method display area 82.

Next, processing executed between the mobile terminal 10 and the printer30 a after the user brings the first NFC IF 17 of the mobile terminal 10in close to the second NFC IF 35 of the printer 30 a will be explainedwith reference to FIG. 8. That is, the operation of bringing the firstNFC IF 17 of the mobile terminal 10 in close to the second NFC IF 35 ofthe printer 30 a is an example of the selection operation of the printer(execution printer) allowed to execute the printing processing of theprinting job PD.

At Step S41, pairing using the NFC is executed between the control AP 20and the printer 30 a. At Step S42, processing for establishing wirelessconnection by WiFi direct is executed between the control AP 20 and theprinter 30 b.

The control AP 20 executes permission determination processing at StepS43. The permission determination processing is processing fordetermining whether the control AP 20 permits the printer (executionprinter) 30 a to execute printing processing by the pull print or not.FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the permission determinationprocessing executed at Step S43.

At Step S51, a transmission request for execution printer identificationinformation ID3 is transmitted to the printer 30 a. The executionprinter identification information ID3 is information for identifyingthe printer, and the execution printer identification information ID3 isinformation indicating a printer name in the embodiment. When theprinter 30 a receives the transmission request for the execution printeridentification information ID3, the printer 30 a transmits the executionprinter identification information ID3 to the mobile terminal 10.

At Step S52, it is determined whether the execution printeridentification information ID3 has been received or not. When it isdetermined that the execution printer identification information ID3 hasbeen received, the process proceeds to Step S53. At Step S53, it isdetermined whether the printer name indicated by the designated printeridentification information ID2 received from the PC 40 is identical withthe printer name indicated by the execution printer identificationinformation ID3 received from the printer 30 a.

When Step S53 is affirmatively determined, namely, when the printernames indicated by identification information ID2, ID3 are identicalwith each other, the process proceeds to Step S54. At Step S54,permission determination for permitting the printer 30 a (executionprinter) to execute printing processing is executed. In this case, thejob identification information ID1 and the IP address Add of the PC 40are transmitted to the printer 30 a at Step S44 of FIG. 8. Accordingly,the printer 30 a is permitted to execute printing processing relating tothe pull print by the control AP 20.

On the other hand, when Step S52 of FIG. 9 is negatively determined, orwhen Step S53 is negatively determined, the printer names indicated bythe identification information ID2, ID3 are not identical with eachother; therefore, the process proceeds to Step S55. At Step S55, errornotification is transmitted to the printer 30 a. In this case, theprinter 30 a is not permitted to execute printing processing relating tothe pull print by the control AP 20. When the printer 30 a receives theerror notification, the printer 30 a displays, for example, textindicating the error on the display 34. When the error notification istransmitted, Step S44 of FIG. 8 is not executed.

Next, processing executed between the printer 30 a and the PC 40 in thepull print will be explained with reference to FIG. 10. The processingillustrated in FIG. 10 is executed in response to receipt of the jobidentification information ID1 and the IP address Add by the printer 30a from the mobile terminal 10.

At Step S60, a connection request is transmitted to the PC 40 identifiedby the IP address Add received from the mobile terminal 10. Accordingly,communication connection is established between the printer 30 a and thePC 40.

The printer 30 a transmits a transmission request for the printing jobPD designated by the job identification information ID to the PC 40 inwhich connection is established at Step S62.

When the PC 40 receives the transmission request for the printing job PDfrom the printer 30 a, the PC 40 specifies, based on the function of thecontrol program 48, a storage designation of the printing job PD byusing the received job identification information ID1 at Step S71. Asdescribed above, the PC 40 stores, into the memory 46, the associationtable T in which the job identification information ID1 and the storagedesignation of the printing job PD are associated with each other on thememory 46, and the PC 40 specifies the storage designation of theprinting job PD by referring to the association table T.

The control program 48 reads the printing job PD from the memory 46 atStep S72. The PC 40 transmits the printing job PD read at Step S72 tothe printer 30 a at Step S73.

When the printer 30 a receives the printing job PD from the controlprogram 48, the printer 30 a executes printing processing using thereceived printing job PD at Step S63. That is, the printer 30 a executesthe printing processing relating to the pull print.

The embodiment explained above can produce the following effects.

The PC 40 transmits the job identification information ID1 foridentifying the printing job PD and the IP address Add to the mobileterminal 10. The control AP 20 of the mobile terminal 10 receives thejob identification information ID and the IP address Add from the PC 40.The control AP 20 receives the selection operation of the printerallowed to print the printing job PD, and transmits the jobidentification information ID1 and the IP address Add to the selectedprinter. When the printer receives the job identification informationID1 and the IP address Add from the mobile terminal 10, the printertransmits the transmission request for making the PC 40 specified by thereceived IP address Add transmit the printing job PD identified by thejob identification information ID1. Then, the printer executes printingprocessing based on the printing job PD received from the PC 40following the transmission request. Accordingly, the user can recognizethe printing job PD to be printed by the printer while operating themobile terminal 10; therefore, an operation burden of the user can bereduced.

The PC 40 stores the designated printer identification information foridentifying the printer (designated printer) allowed to print theprinting job PD into the memory 46 so that the designated printeridentification information is associated with the printing job PD. ThePC 40 transmits the designated printer identification information ID2 tothe mobile terminal 10 operated by the user in addition to the jobidentification information ID1 and the IP address Add. The control AP 20of the mobile terminal 10 obtains the execution printer identificationinformation ID3 from the printer. When the printer name identified bythe execution printer identification information ID3 is not identicalwith the printer name identified by the designated printeridentification information ID2, the control AP 20 notifies that theprinter identified by the execution printer identification informationID3 is not identical with the printer name identified by the designatedprinter identification information ID2. As the user who has created theprinting job PD can designate the printer by the designated printeridentification information ID2 in the above manner, it is possible tosuppress that printing processing of the printing job PD is executed byan unintended printer.

The PC 40 transmits the designated printer identification informationID2 to the mobile terminal 10 with the job identification information IDand the IP address Add. The control AP 20 displays the name of theprinter allowed to print the printing job PD identified by the jobidentification information ID on the printing instruction receivingscreen 80 based on the job identification information ID1 and thedesignated printer identification information ID2. As the user can checkthe printer allowed to print the printing job PD while looking at thescreen by the above display, the operation burden of the user at thetime of allowing the printer to execute the printing processing can befurther reduced.

When the control AP 20 receives the deletion operation from the userwith respect to the printing job PD identified by the job identificationinformation ID1, the control AP 20 transmits the deletion request forthe printing job PD to be a deletion target to the PC 40 based on thejob identification information ID1. When the PC 40 receives the deletionrequest with respect to the printing job PD from the mobile terminal 10,the PC 40 deletes the job identification information ID to be the targetof the deletion request. Accordingly, the user can delete the printingjob PD stored by the PC 40 by operating the mobile terminal 10.

The control AP 20 displays existence or nonexistence of the printing jobPD in which printing processing has not been executed in printing jobsPD the job identification information ID1 of which have been receivedfrom the PC 40 on the display 13 as the batch image 63. Accordingly, theuser can check the existence of the printing job PD in which printingprocessing has not been executed while looking at the batch image 63displayed on the display 13 of the mobile terminal 10.

Modification Example of First Embodiment

In an arrangement state of respective job display areas on the listscreen 70, the job display areas may be arranged in accordance with acorresponding designated printer. FIG. 11 is a view for explaining thelist screen 70 according to an embodiment.

In the embodiment, the control AP 20 displays job display areas 171corresponding to the printing jobs PD to be printed by designatedprinters such that the job display areas 171 are distinguished from eachother by each of designated printers on the display 13. Specifically,job display areas 171 a, 171 b relate to printing jobs PD in which theprinter 30 a (an example of a first designated printer) is designated asthe designated printer in a plurality of job display areas 171 containedin the list screen 70. A job display area 171 c disposed next to the jobdisplay area 171 b relates to the printing job in which the printer 30 b(an example of a second designated printer) is designated as thedesignated printer. That is, the job display areas 171 corresponding tothe same designated printer are successively arranged in a verticaldirection in the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 11, time informationID3 a, a thumbnail ID4 a and the delete button 74 a are displayed in thejob display area 171 a. Time information ID3 b, a thumbnail ID4 b andthe delete button 74 b are displayed in the job display area 171 b. Timeinformation ID3 c, a thumbnail ID4 c and the delete button 74 c aredisplayed in the job display area 171 c.

In this case, the control AP 20 may set the order of an arrangement ofthe job display areas 171 on the list screen 70 based on the designatedprinter identification information ID2 received from the PC 40 at StepS31 of FIG. 5. For example, the job display areas 171 may be arranged indescending order of the number of printer names designated by thedesignated printer identification information ID2 in the job displayareas 171 displayed on the list screen 70.

In the embodiment, respective job display areas 171 may be arranged in astate in which corresponding designated printers can be recognized onthe list screen 70. For that purpose, a background color of the jobdisplay areas 171 may be changed according to the designated printer.

In the embodiment explained above, the control AP 20 displays theprinting jobs PD to be printed by the designated printers so as to bedistinguished from each other on the list screen 70 by each ofdesignated printers identified by the designated printer identificationinformation ID2 on the display 13. Accordingly, the user can checkcorrespondence relationship between printing jobs and printers whileseeing the arrangement state of the list screen 70 displayed on thedisplay 13 of the mobile terminal 10 even when a plurality of printingjobs PD exist.

Second Embodiment

In a second embodiment, configurations different from the firstembodiment will be chiefly explained. In the second embodiment, the samereference signs are given to the same places as the first embodiment,and explanation thereof is not repeated.

In the embodiment, when the user brings the first NFC IF 17 of themobile terminal 10 in close to the second NFC IF 35 of one of theprinters 30 a, 30 b, printing jobs PD being executable by the one of theprinters 30 a, 30 b (an example of a third printing job) and printingjobs PD being inexecutable by the one of the printers 30 a, 30 b (anexample of a fourth printing job) are displayed so as to bedistinguished from each other on the list screen 70. Specifically, thecontrol AP 20 displays text saying “please touch in NFC” on the listscreen 70 at Step S31 of FIG. 5. Then, when the user brings the firstNFC IF 17 of the mobile terminal 10 in close to the second NFC IF 35 ofany of the printers 30 a, 30 b in the state in which the list screen 70is displayed, processing executed between the mobile terminal and theprinter illustrated in FIG. 8 is executed. After the processing of StepS52 in the process of S43 (FIG. 9), the list screen 70 illustrated inFIG. 12 is displayed on the display 13 of the mobile terminal 10.

FIG. 12 illustrates the list screen 70 displayed as an example when thefirst NFC IF 17 of the mobile terminal 10 is brought in close to thesecond NFC IF 35 of the printer 30 a. The list screen 70 of FIG. 12contains three job display areas 271 a, 271 b, and 271 c. Among them,the designated identification information ID2 designates the printer 30a in the printing jobs PD corresponding to the job display areas 271 a,271 c. On the other hand, the designated printer identificationinformation designates the printer 30 b in the printing job PDcorresponding to the job display area 271 b. As illustrated in FIG. 12,time information 72 a, a thumbnail 73 a and the delete button 74 a aredisplayed in the job display area 271 a. Time information 72 b, athumbnail 73 b and the delete button 74 b are displayed in the jobdisplay area 271 b. Time information 72 c, a thumbnail 73 c and thedelete button 74 c are displayed in the job display area 271 c.

The background color of the job display area 271 b illustrated withhatching is different from the background color of the job display areas271 a, 271 b in FIG. 12, and the job display area 271 b can bedistinguished from the job display areas 271 a, 271 c. For example, thejob display area 271 b can be distinguished from the job display areas271 a, 271 c by setting brightness of the back ground of the job displayarea 271 b to be a color with a low brightness such as gray. That is,the printing jobs PD capable of being printed by the printer touched inNFC are displayed so as to be selectable, and the printing job PDincapable of being printed by the printer touched in NFC is displayed soas not to be selectable (gray out).

The control AP 20 displays the list screen 70 illustrated in FIG. 12 onthe display 13 when receiving the execution printer identificationinformation ID3 at Step S52 of FIG. 9. In this case, the control AP 20may change the background color of the corresponding job display area271, for example, with respect to the printing job PD corresponding tothe designated printer identification information ID2 that is notidentical with the execution printer identification information ID3.After that, when the user selects any of the printing jobs PDcorresponding to the job display areas 271 a, 271 c displayed so as tobe selectable in FIG. 12, processing after S53 is executed.

In the embodiment explained above, the control AP 20 displays respectivejob display areas 271 on the list screen 70 so that the printing jobs PDcapable of being printed by the execution printer and the printing jobsPD incapable of being printed can be distinguished from each other onthe display 13 based on the execution printer identification informationID3 obtained from the printer. Accordingly, the user can easily checkthe printing job PD which can be printed from now even when the jobdisplay areas 271 corresponding to a plurality of printing jobs PD aredisplayed on the list screen 70.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

The technique disclosed in the specification is not limited to the aboveembodiments and may be modified in various manners in a scope notdeparting from the gist thereof, and for example, the followingmodifications may be included.

It is also preferable that the PC 40 does not have the function ofcreating printing jobs PD and stores printing jobs PD created by anotherPC into the memory 46.

The information processing apparatus is not limited to the PC but may beconfigured by a PC that creates printing jobs PD and a server storingthe printing jobs PD created by the PC. In this case, the PC may storean IP address of the server as address information into the memory 46and may transmit an IP address Add of the server to the mobile terminal10.

The operation, by the user, for selecting the printer (namely, theexecution printer) allowed to execute printing processing of theprinting job PD is not limited to the operation of bringing the firstNFC IF 17 of the mobile terminal 10 in close to the second NFC IF 35 ofthe printer. For example, the user may execute the selection operationof the printer allowed to execute printing process of the printing jobPD on the screen displayed on the mobile terminal 10.

What is claimed is:
 1. A printing system, comprising: an informationprocessing apparatus; a mobile terminal; and a printer, wherein theinformation processing apparatus is configured to: store a printing joband job identification information identifying the printing job so as tobe associated with each other; transmit the job identificationinformation and address information indicating an address of theinformation processing apparatus to the mobile terminal; and transmitthe printing job to the printer when receiving a transmission requestfor the printing job identified by the job identification informationfrom the printer, wherein the mobile terminal is configured to: receivethe job identification information and the address informationtransmitted from the information processing apparatus; and receive aselection operation of an execution printer allowed to execute printingprocessing of the printing job; and transmit the job identificationinformation and the address information to the selected executionprinter, and wherein the printer is configured to: transmit atransmission request for transmitting the printing job identified by thejob identification information to the information processing apparatusspecified by the received address information when receiving the jobidentification information and the address information from the mobileterminal; and execute the printing processing based on the printing jobreceived from the information processing apparatus in response toreceiving the transmission request.
 2. The printing system according toclaim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is configured to:store designated printer identification information identifying adesignated printer allowed to execute the printing processing of theprinting job so as to be associated with the printing job; and transmitthe designated printer identification information to the mobile terminalin addition to the job identification information and the addressinformation, and wherein the mobile terminal is configured to: obtain,from the execution printer, execution printer identification informationidentifying the execution printer; and when the execution printeridentified by the execution printer identification information is notidentical with the designated printer identified by the designatedprinter identification information, notify the execution printer is notidentical with the designated printer.
 3. The printing system accordingto claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is configuredto: store designated printer identification information identifying adesignated printer allowed to execute the printing processing of theprinting job so as to be associated with the printing job; and transmitthe designated printer identification information to the mobile terminalin addition to the job identification information and the addressinformation, and wherein the mobile terminal includes a display and isconfigured to display the designated printer allowed to print theprinting job identified by the job identification information on thedisplay based on the job identification information and the designatedprinter identification information transmitted from the informationprocessing apparatus.
 4. The printing system according to claim 3,wherein the mobile terminal is configured to: display, on the display, alist screen containing a plurality of printing jobs each as the printingjob identified by the job identification information; and display afirst printing job and a second printing job of the plurality ofprinting jobs so as to be distinguished from each other on the listscreen, the first printing job and the second printing job being to berespectively printed by a first designated printer and a seconddesignated printer each as the designated printer identified by thedesignated printer identification information.
 5. The printing systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal includes a display andis configured to: display a list screen containing a plurality ofprinting jobs each as the printing job identified by the jobidentification information on the display; obtain, from the executionprinter, execution printer identification information identifying theexecution printer; and display a third printing job and a fourthprinting job of the plurality of printing jobs so as to be distinguishedfrom each other on the list screen, the third printing job being a printjob executable by the execution printer, the fourth printing job being aprint job inexecutable by the execution printer.
 6. The printing systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is configured to:receive a deletion operation with respect to the printing job identifiedby the received job identification information; and in response toreceiving the deletion operation, transmit a deletion request fordeleting the printing job specified by the deletion operation to theinformation processing apparatus, and wherein the information processingapparatus is configured to delete the printing job to be deleted inresponse to receiving the deletion request of the printing job from themobile terminal.
 7. The printing system according to claim 1, whereinthe mobile terminal includes a display and is configured to display, onthe display, existence or nonexistence of the printing job, the printingprocessing of which has not been executed, among at least one printingjob each as the printing job identified by the received jobidentification information transmitted from the information processingapparatus.
 8. A non-transitory storage medium storing a program readableby a computer of a mobile terminal capable of communicating with aninformation processing apparatus and a printer through a network,wherein, when the program is executed by the computer, the programallows the mobile terminal to: receive job identification informationidentifying a printing job stored in the information processingapparatus and address information indicating an address of theinformation processing apparatus from the information processingapparatus; and receive a selection operation of an execution printerallowed to execute printing processing of the printing job; and transmitthe job identification information and the address information to theselected execution printer.